Phil Hirschkorn

Phil Hirschkorn interviews author Graeme Wood about his book, The Way of Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State. They discuss ISIS and the motivations of their supporters and members. Wood claims that ISIS members are not purely nihilistic, they are idealistic and find a sense of belonging with the group that the members lacked in their home countries.

Phil Hirschkorn reports the Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abd Al-Rahman, alias Abu Khayr al-Masri was killed by an American drone strike in Syria. He was married to one of bin Laden’s daughters and the second highest ranking member of al-Qaida. Al-Masri was considered part of the legacy leaders and is directly connected to many high profile attacks.

The five men blamed for planning the attacks of September 11 have yet to be tried in a military commission. Nearly 15 years after that day, they remain detained at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now, some critics are asking if federal trials based in the U.S. are more effective in prosecuting alleged terrorists. NewsHour Weekend's Phil Hirschkorn reports.

“In the last two decades, tens of millions of dollars of looted art has changed hands.” This article discusses how works of art stolen by the Nazis during World War II often continue to be bought and sold today, rather than returned to their rightful owners, and details the efforts to reverse that trend.

Farooq Bajwa pioneered a business, SpanCash, that would allow people to make payments through their phone. Bajwa explains: “I realized I might make a big difference in this world not only helping these underprivileged people who don’t have bank accounts, I will also be helping bring an economic revolution.” He now finds himself embroiled in a lawsuit against a Middle East Bank, which he claims stole his technology. “At issue is whether his SpanCash system ever delivered as promised, how much revenue it could have made and whether the bank, Emirates NBD, stole any ideas or technology after its deal to launch the system with InfoSpan collapsed. More than $550 million in damages is being sought from the bank, which disputes that the system ever worked.”

The conviction of ex-U.S. serviceman Tairod Pugh, whose failed attempt to join ISIS was deemed an extension of "material support" to the group, gives a face to the 31,000 foreign fighters who have successfully made their way to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State.

"A DAUGHTER AND SISTER REMEMBERS" HUFFINGTON POST

“For 16 years, Edith Bartley has stood strong, the de facto spokeswoman for 11 U.S. families who suffered permanent loss in al Qaeda’s first terrorist attack on American civilians.” In the aftermath of the Nairobi explosion, which killed her both her father and her younger brother, Edith Bartley joined her mother Sue in advocating for improved embassy security, compensation for pre-9/11 acts of terror by al Qaeda, and the continued remembrance of terror victims.

In considering the life sentence of Khaled al-Fawwaz for terrorism, Phil Hirschkorn describes the legacy of the 1998 al Qaeda embassy bombings and their lasting impact on the wounded but still living and the families of those lost.